Reaching for the Moon

Bruno Barretto directed this compelling drama about the tragic love affair between the American poet Elizabeth Bishop (Miranda Otto) and Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Glória Pires). The film begins with a skittish and remote Bishop traveling to Petropolis, Brazil, to visit an old college friend named Mary (Tracy Middendorf), and the latter's live-in lover, the seemingly fearless and boldly creative Soares. After initial frustration with Bishop's neurotic aloofness, Soares falls for the writer, initiating a 15-year relationship marked by alcoholism, jealousy, conflict, and competing ambitions. Bishop, who grew up without a father and whose mother was confined to a mental institution for decades (ultimately dying there), at first seems happy to fall under the nurturing, take-charge sway of Soares. But as her stock as a poet rises (Bishop wins a Pulitzer and National Book Award, among other accolades), there are tensions with the ambitious architect exacerbated by liquor and disagreements over Brazil's political future. Barretto takes a sweeping approach to the story, coaxing strong performances from the cast. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)